Elevator-operating mechanism.



A Patented Aug. |2, l902.

W. W. HUBBABD. ELEVATDH OPERATING MECHANISM.

(Application led Apr. 12, 1902.)

(No Model.)

e- INVENTUR:

ITNEEEEISI UNITED STATES UFFICE.

WILLIAMV. HUBBARD, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ELEVATORm-UPERATINGI lVlECHANlSll/l.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 706,826, dated August12, 1902.

Application filed April 12, 1902. Serial No. 102,555. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.: i

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. HIIBBARD, of Manchester, in the county ofHillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain newand'useful Improvements in Elevator-Operating,.Mechanism, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide :means for advantageouslyutilizing the weight of a personen an elevator-car or lift in impartingupward movement to the car; and it further has for its object to providemeans for regulating the descent of the car or lift.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed todescribe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure l represents a side elevation of a lift-operating mechanismembodying my invention, the lift being shown in section. Fig. 2represents a section on line 2 2 of Fig. l and an elevation of themechanism at the left of said line. Fig. 3 represents a section on line3 3 of Fig. 2.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all theiigures.

In the drawings, @represents an elongated vertical rack-bar, which isrigidly secured in a space corresponding tothe elevator well or passageof a building and extends vertically the distance which the elevator or'lift hereinafter described is intended to traverse.

h represents a structure which is movable relatively to the rack-bar o.and is here shown as having the general construction of an elevator caror platform; but inasmuch as this structure may be variously'modifiedand'may be made in any form adapted to support one or more persons ineither a standing or a sitting position I prefer to designate it as alift.A

having a box cl', which extends over the shaft 4engages the gear c, asshown in Figs. l and 3. The other arm of the lever d is preferablylonger than the arm carrying the pawl c and constitutes a treadleadaptedlto be depressed by a person carried by the lift.

It will be seen that when the treadle end of the lever cl is depressedthe pawl e is raised and imparts to the gear c a partial rotation in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3. During this operation theshaded portion of the gear c (shown in Fig. 3) constitutes a secondarylever, having its fulcrum on one or more of the teeth of the rack-bar a.Said rack-bar is, as already stated, rigidly supported independently ofthe lift, so that the weight of a person applied to the treadle end ofthe lever d and operating to' raise the pawl e is in effect supported bythe fixed fulcrum-namely, the teeth of the rack-barthe lift beingtherefore for the time being relieved of the weight of the operator. Thelift is suitably counterbalanced bya weight (not shown) connected with acord gf, secured to the lift and passing overa suitable system ofguide-pulleys n. It will be seen, therefore, that by providing twolevers d, eachequipped with a pawl e, as shown in Fig. 2, a person onthelift by standing on the treadle ends of the two levers and moving hisfeet and legs alternately can readily impart an upward movement to thelift, said movement being practically unretarded by the weight of theoperator.v 'To prevent backward rotation of the gear c and downwardmovement of the lift, l provide a stop-pawlf, which, as here shown, isaffixed to the sleevef, mounted to turn loosely on a rod f f2, affixedto supports on the lift. A stop-pawlfautomatically engages the teeth ofthe gear c.

Means are provided whereby the operator may simultaneously disengage thepawls e andf from the gear c to permit the descent of the lift. I hereshow as such means a bellcrank lever h, pivoted at h to asupport whichmoves with the lift, the arm 2 of said lever serving as a handheld orgrip, a chain h2, connecting the otherl arm 3 of said lever with `an arm4, attached to the sleeve f', and a chain h3, connecting the arm 4 witharms 5, formed on the pawls e. When the arm 3 is raised, it impartsmovement through the described connections to the pawls f and e anddisengages said pawls simultaneously from the gear c. Means are alsoprovided for enabling the operator to control the descent of the lift,said means, as here shown, comprising a fixed elongated verticalfriction member, secured beside and extending paral` lel with therack-bar a', and a coperating friction member, suitably engaged with thelift and adapted to be pressed against the fixed member to create aretarding friction. The member t" may be composed of two sectionscollectively forming a handpiece or handle surrounding the member il andadapted to be pressed thereon by the hand of the operator. In thisembodiment of my invention I show as a means for preventing separationof the gear c from the rack a an antifriction-roll 7c in rolling contactwith the back of the rack-bar a, and links k', connecting the trunnionsof the roll 7c with the shaft c2, supporting the gear c.

My invention is not limited to the form and relative arrangements of theessential parts of the invention here shown, and the same may bevariously modified without departing from the spirit of my invention.Ibelieve myself to be the rst to combine a fixed vertical rack-bar andlift movable relatively to the rack-bar and pivotally connected with thelift and carrying a pawl which constitutes an extension of the lever,and a gear also pivotally connected with the lift and engaged both withthe pawl and the rack-bar, said gear constituting a secondary levervwhich when in operation is fulcrumed on the rack-bar, thereby relievingthe lift of the weight which depresses or operates the lever. Thiscombination of elements enables movements of the body which areequivalent to those required in walking to be utilized in raising thebody and the lift or elevator on which it is supported, the mechanism ofmy invention, including the stop-pawl f, preventing the loss in theoperation of this mechanism of the power which in walking is lost by thesettling of the body of the walker in taking each step.

It will be seen that in case the rope that balances the car should breakthe car cannot fall while the pawls are in engagement with the gear.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention and described a way ofconstructing and using the same, although without having attempted toset forth all the forms in which it may be embodied or all the modes ofits use, I declare that what I claim isl. The combination of a fixedvertical elongated rack, a vertically-movable. lift, a pair of primaryoperating-levers each formed as a treadle pivoted on the lift andcarrying a pawlwhich constitutes an extension of the lever, and a gearjournaled on the lift and engaging both the pawls and the rack, saidgear constituting asecondary lever which has the fixed rack for itsfulcrum, whereby the weight of a passenger on the lift exertedalternately on the two primary levers and applied to rotate the gear issupported wholly by the rack and caused to raise the lift, the latterbeing relieved of the weight of the pas# senger while the lift isrising.

2. The combination of a fixed vertical elongated rack, avertically-movable lift, a pair of primary operating-levers each formedas a treadle pivoted on the lift and carrying a pawl constituting anextension of the lever, a gear journaled on the lift and engaging boththe pawls and the rack, said gear being rotatable in a forward directionby the levers and pawls, and means for preventing backward rotation ofthe gear.

3. The combination of a fixed vertical elongated rack, avertically-movable lift, a pair of primary operating-levers each formedas a treadle pivoted on the lift and carrying a lpawl constituting anextension of the lever,

a gear journaled on the lift and engaging both the pawls and the rack,said gear being rotatable in a forward direction by the levers andpawls, a stop-pawl pivoted on the lift and adapted to prevent backwardrotation of the gear, and means for simultaneously disengaging the pawlsfrom the gear to permit the descent of the lift. f

4. The combination of a fixed vertical elongated rack, avertically-movable lift, a pair of primary operating-levers each formedas a treadle pivoted on the lift and carrying a pawl constituting anextension of the lever, a gear journaled on the lift and engaging boththe pawls and the rack, said gear being rotatable in a forward directionby the levers and pawls, a stop-pawl pivoted on the lift and adapted toprevent backward rotation of the gear, means for simultaneouslydisengaging the pawls from the gear to permit the descent of the lift,and means for retarding the descent of the lift.

5. The combination of a fixed vertical elongated rack, avertically-movable lift, a pair of primary operating-levers each formedas a treadle pivotedon the lift and carrying a pawl constituting anextension of the lever, a gear journaled on the lift and engaging boththe pawls and the rack, said gear being rotatable in a forward directionby the levers and pawls, a stop-pawl pivoted on the lift and adapted toprevent backward rotation of the gear, means for simultaneouslydisengaging the pawls from the gear to permit the descent of the lift,and brake mechanism comprising a fixed vertical elongated frictionmember and a complemental sliding friction member movable with the liftand adapted to coperate with the said xed member.

6. The combination of a fixed vertical elongated rack, avertically-movable lift, a pair IOO IIO

both the pawl and the rack, said gear being ILE of primaryoperating-levers each formed as a treadle pivoted on the lift andcarrying a pawi constituting an extension of the lever, a gear journaledon the lift and engaging rods connecting said roll with the axis ofthegear. l 1o In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presenceof two Witnesses.

WILLIAM WV. IIUBBARD. Witnesses: i

FREDERIC S. NUTTING,

rotatable in a forward direction by the levers and pawls, anantifriction-roil in rolling contact with the back of the rack, andtensioni C. E. BISCO.

